Beware of scammer posing as Wan Junaidi asking for money

A supplied photo of the fake messages from scammer posing as Wan Junaidi asking money from a member of the public on Telegram app.

By Nur Ashikin Louis

KUCHING, Aug 1: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Dato Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has warned the public not to fall prey to online scams using his identity after his Telegram account was hacked by an unknown individual recently.

In a Facebook post on July 29, the minister announced that the scammer had disguised as him by using his name and photo to ask for money from the members of the public through the Telegram app.

“Therefore, I request all parties who receive messages through any chat app to ignore it or block it and make a report to the developer of the app used by irresponsible parties.

“If anyone has fallen victim to the scam, please immediately report to the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) so that the perpetrator can be brought to justice,” he said.

Later in the evening of the same day, Wan Junaidi wrote another statement in Facebook informing that his private secretary Rudi Affandi has lodged a police report at the Precinct 7 police station, Putrajaya regarding the misuse of his name and photo to scam money from the public through Telegram app.

“This report was made to protect my reputation and my officer had also filed a complaint to the MCMC for further action.

“I am confident that the authorities could quickly resolve the case and hope that no one else would become a victim of cybercrime and fraud,” he added.

The following day (July 30), the ministry issued a statement informing that it has successfully regained control of Wan Junaidi’s Telegram account after the hack attack.

The statement went on to advise the members of the public that if a money transfer has been made, they must report it immediately to the police and MCMC for further investigation.

“If there are still messages asking to loan money, please contact Dato Sri Wan Junaidi for confirmation,” it emphasised. – DayakDaily